All posts tagged: Art

Book Review – ‘The Museum of Modern Love’

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Title: The Museum of Modern Love Author: Heather Rose Genre: Fiction (literary) Release date: 1st September, 2016 Rating: ★★★★★ “Arky Levin is a film composer in New York separated from his wife, who has asked him to keep one devastating promise. One day he finds his way to The Atrium at MOMA and sees Marina Abramovic in The Artist is Present. The performance continues for seventy-five days and, as it unfolds, so does Arky. As he watches and meets other people drawn to the exhibit, he slowly starts to understand what might be missing in his life and what he must do. This dazzlingly original novel asks beguiling questions about the nature of art, life and love and finds a way to answer them.” (Allen & Unwin) Approximately 15 pages into The Museum of Modern Love, I decided that it was a contender for my favourite new release of the year. Two pages later I became concerned that if I kept on reading that it would take a turn for the worse and I’d end up hating it; I contemplated putting it …

From My Holiday: Visiting the Musée d’Orsay

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After some very much needed sleep (after the Louvre and being hungover the next day), I met up with Nat again and we hit a couple of museums – the Musee d’Orsay and Musée de Cluny (I’ll write about Musée de Cluny in another post). We had a really great day together and it was nice just to hang out and do some more catching up. It was the most perfect weather as well, and after walking through the dimness of the Musée de Cluny, we grabbed some iced beverages and pastries, and sat in the sunshine in a little garden near the museum. Then I waited with Nat for her bus and we said our goodbyes. I was heading to London the next day and we wouldn’t be able to catch up again before I left. It was sad to say goodbye – but I know I’ll see her again in the near future because I actually can’t stay away from Paris! In terms of the actual building itself, the Musée d’Orsay is really beautiful. It has a …

From My Holiday: The Rodin Museum

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After my big day at the Louvre (you can read about it here and here if you missed it), I met up with my friend Nat (hi Nat if you’re reading!) who is lucky enough to live in Paris. We decided to have a couple of drinks to catch up (we hadn’t seen each other since I was in Paris two years ago, so we had lots of catching up to do) and ended up at a bar that had super cheap drinks. It’s important to note at this point that I hadn’t eaten much that day, so going out for drinks probably wasn’t the smartest idea but people don’t always make smart ideas when they’re on holiday.  A ‘couple of drinks’ turned into a proper session including lots of wine, a couple of very strong mojitos, briefly getting caught in the rain, and, after walking Nat to the metro, a 40 minute solo walk back to my hotel at 1am that took me along the Seine. It was kind of like ‘Midnight in Paris’ except I …

From My Holiday: The Louvre – Decorative Arts and Napoleon’s Apartments.

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The Decorative Arts galleries and Napoleon’s (the III – not THE Napoleon) Apartments were probably my favourite parts of the Louvre. Not having a lot of money to spend on furniture, I’ve never really thought of it as art – I generally consider it firstly based on price, then functionality, then how it looks (unless it’s something I really REALLY want, like my cosy red armchair). Needless to say after wandering through these galleries my mind has been completely changed and I now have a greater appreciation for the beauty of furniture.Words such as sumptuous, decadent, luxurious, and opulent are the only apt ones to describe these rooms. Decorative Arts Furnishings While the Louvre is perhaps most famous for its paintings, the Decorative Arts galleries are no less amazing. The collection is made up of a wide variety of objects such as “jewellery, silverware, enamels, ivories, bronzes, semi-precious stone work, ceramics, glassware, stained glass, furniture, and rugs, and spanning the period from the early Middle Ages to the first half of the 19th century” (louvre.fr). While …